Method and apparatus for handling airplanes for refueling



June 3, 1947. w. c. LEITCH ET AL 2,421,512

METHQD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AIRPLANES FOR REFUELING Filed Feb. 10,1945 INVENTORS Man-0 Cult/7c Mm BY Jaszmflznfi "ATTOR Y Patented June 3,1947 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AIRPLANE-S FOR REFUELING WalterC. Leitch, Springfield, and Joseph A. Logan, Hadley, Mass, assignors toGilbert & Barker'Manufacturing Company, West Springfield, Mass, acorporation of Massachusetts Application February 10, 1945, Serial No.577,322

3 Claims. 1 The invention to be described is a new method for helpingthe work around an airplane when it is on the flying-field. Forexample,'the Work of.

refueling. 'Such work is now difficult. It is difficult because bothsafetyand speed are 'so important. The difficulty is increased by largesize airplanes needingithousan'ds of gallons in one filling operation.The new method is very useful for many operations around a large plane,apart fromthe refueling one. .To .helpthe work of this one,-however, isaleadingpurpose of the invention.

Prior ways of carrying on refueling operations are generally known andneednot now be reviewed. Ther'e seemsv to be one general difiiculty inthat the various prior ways are not well adapted to fast and safe'work."This is particularly. true with respect to fueling the large planes.

The new method will be understood by the description of the' wayitiiscarried button a flying field by'the'tools or structureall as indicatedin the drawings,

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a somewhat diagrammatic view of a flying field, its.mainbuilding andseveral service positions, or stations, each for oneplanenee'ding servicing work; 7

Fig.2is a view generallyin section at one of theservice positions, orstations, viewed with a planeiin position for being serviced; and

Fig. 3is a similar view atri'ght angles to that of Fig.2. i

The method of handlingth'e'plane is one for working on the flying field.vli'ig. 1 shows'such 'a field with four workstations on -it. They aregrouped around the main building shown. The work atea'chstation-isthe'same.

When afplane'lands it goesimmediatelyto an assigned station. The .planeis shown just as it is first positioned at station I. It rests onelevator platform 15. The iplatfor'm'is level Withand formsa'small partof the flying field. There are no obstructions. The plane is restedonthe platform area as easily as if such-area *were merely marked off onthe held.

The relation'of the plane to the platform is shown'by way of exampleats't'ations '1 and 2 of Fig. 1 and by Figs. 2 and '3. Afeatu're is thatthe platform is large "enough to directly underly the cabin, or themajor part of theca'rrying space f or passengersanti-freight, but isn'o'tlarge enough to'directly underlie' the wings and tail parts. Theidea is to lower the cabin intothe ground to bring the wings close tothe'ground. The positions they are moved-to by the 'platformare in-.

dicated by way of example. At stations 3 and 4 of Fig. 1, the platformis shown without the plane, in lowered and raised positionsrespectively.

The method is particularly applicablefor handling a large plane, forexample as high as an ordinary house or higher. The plane indicated. isone of the large ones. In the position of Figs. 2 and 3, the wings Whave been positioned within easy reach of the ground. They can bemounted with ordinary step ladders or without any ladders and access totheir fuel tank openin s is obtained with speed and safety.

Consider Fig. 2, the fuel dispensing hose 6, stored underground in aroom or tunnel connected with the elevator pit, is shown fueling theplane throughfour hose lines. All hose is quickly hose put backunderground. In this work, the

length of hose, its weight, and the distance the workman needs to carryit are all brought into a small scale. The scale is reduced to aremarkable extent from the fuelingequipment now used to service largeplanes. This results in making the work easier for the men and thereforemakes it much safer. This result is made feasible by the new way thelarge plane is handled.

The hose lines, the reels forthem, the dispensing line pump aresufficiently indicated in Fig. 2 for the purpose of understanding themethod. Such equipment can be used of course in many different forms. Sotoo, greasing equipment I and the like is indicated. The elevator pitmay be connected to underground storage space such as a room or tunnel9. The workmen can operate on the plane with all appropriate'servicestation equipment, as line pump Ill, as will be obvious from what hasbeen stated.

The way described for handling the plane for fueling purposes is usefulfor many other operations. I will describe some of these and analogousoperations will readily be apparent Without specific description.

Fig. 1 shows the plane stations l, 2, 3, and 4 as connected to the mainbuilding 20 by several tunnels 9. When the plane is lowered straightinto the ground at a station on the flying field area, these tunnels mayconnect the plane adjacent its door openings. Passengers and freight canbe unloaded and loaded from some tunnels and workmen to service theplane can operate is important.

authorized workmen. There need be no traific on such area as therenormally is around a plane at its air field station.

An advantage of the method in handling the plane stationed on the flyingfield not only for fueling purposes but also for the other operations isthis. The waiting time of the plane between its landing and taking oilat the field can be substantially cut down. This will be clear fromconsidering the illustrative examples of Fig. 1 indicating differentoperations all of which contribute to shorten the waiting time at astation.

The method has been described in relation to the use of civilianairplane facilities. Its relation to military airplanes will be brieflyreferred to. In this relation the question of fast and safe fuelingoperations for very large planes They carry accessory mechanism on thewings. They are endangered if the plane is not carefully handled infueling operations. The planes have become so large that the need forimproved fueling methods has reached an acute stage. This is true notonly with regard to speed of operation but also with regard to safety ofoperation for the man and for the plane. The ordinary rate of gasolinedispensing systems is altogether too slow. The bulk delivery systems offaster rates are not adapted for location inside the flying field. Ofcourse underground piping systems in general would occur to any one. Butthe difficulty has been to provide for the delivery end of such systems.With the plane on the field carrying its filling tank openings thirtyfeet and often much more above the ground, it ordinarily takes somethingon the order of a well equipped city fire department with hose wagons,long ladders, and dangerous work to get the gallonage into the plane atanywhere near the desired speed. The plane usually has deicing mechanismalong the wing edges. The wings carry other accessory mechanism. It isdangerous for both men and for plane equipment when long ladders areused to reach and work around the wings.

In this situation prior efforts of improvement have involvedimprovements in the fueling equipment. The invention of the presentmethod in contrast involves the handling of the plane. It can be usedalong with many of the improvements in the fueling equipment per se. Butthe new method from one aspect operates to make the fueling of a largesize plane as easy for the most part, as if it were a small size plane.This is true with respect to the position of easy reach from the ground,in which the wings and the filling openings are easily reached from theground around the wing edges.

The elevator used for carrying out this method needs to be of much lessarea than the area needed to take the whole spread of the plane. Theelevator is used to manage the plane, to bring its wings close to theground. The particular plane with relation to platform area is just byway of example. Other types of planes may need other types of platformsto carry out the idea. While it is very useful to then fuel the planefrom underground equipment as already indicated, this is not necessaryto the broadest aspect of the invention. For example, consider that theplane at station I has had its cabin lowered with the platform into theelevator pit. Then its wings will have the position close to the ground,as the plane wings indicated at station 2 and in Fig. 2 with moredetail. In this position any tank Wagon truck can operate on the field,draw along side of the wing, dump its load into one of the wing tanks,and use just the ordinary hose and dispensing equipment of the tanktruck and with all ordinary safeguards in the handling of gasoline. Butsuch an operation would not be possible if the method were not used bythe relatively small elevator to handle the plane and lay its wings overthe ground at practically the level of the tank wagon. This exampleillustrates the fact that all the equipment and facilities of thedrawings and description are not necessary to the broad aspect of themethod of improvement in the fueling of large planes. The prior artmethods now cause much fueling trouble at flying fields. A prime featureof the method is the elevator platform size with relation to taking thecabin but not the wings into the ground while placing the wings in theright relation to the ground so as to work from the ground around thelow leveled wings.

The elevator controls and operating means have not been shown as suchthings are too well known to need description. But for a safeguard tothe plane in the use of the method, a special safety switch may be usedin Fig. 1. It may operate from a padded rod engaging the wing as theplane is lowered. The safety switch may be opened as the rod is lowereda small distance at the end of the downward movement of the Wing. Theopened switch may stop the elevator as a control switch. This switch maybe closed automatically or by-passedby a circuit closed when the usualelevator switch is operated to move the platform and plane up. This isnot a feature claimed herein. It is pointed out as a desirable piece ofsafety equipment within the scope of any electricians ability to installonce he has the idea. By setting a safety switch rod, one preferablyunder each wing, at about the level desired for locating the wings atlow level position, different sized planes handled by the same elevatorwill be protected against going too far down.

We wish to emphasize the time saving and safety features of the methodin the use for which it is adapted.

It will be appreciated that with so many different types of planes inuse there may be various changes in the particular arrangement ofplatform areas on air fields. The illustration shown discloses themethod. It can be carried out With a good many different kinds ofequipment and flying field arrangements.

The claims for the invention are:

1. The method of handling a plane for servicing on a flying field, whichcomprises moving the plane onto a support at field level, the surfacewidth of the support being confined to substantially the overall maximumwidth dimension of the underwing structure of the plane being serviced,and lowering the support below ground level to a depth suflicient tobring the wings of the plane into service accessible proximity to thesurface of the flying field.

2. Apparatus for servicing a plane on a flying field which comprises apit having a maximum width dimension not substantially greater than theoverall width dimension of the underwing structure of the plane to beserviced, a platform having an unobstructed surface and forming aclosure for the surface opening of the pit flush with the surface of theflying field, said platform being movable inwardly of the pit, and meansto lower said platform to position the wings of a plane supported onsaid platform into service accessible proximity to the field surfac atthe sides of the pit.

3. Apparatus for servicing a plane on a flying field which comprises apit haVing a maximum width dimension not substantially greater than theoverall width dimension of the underwing structure of the plane to beserviced, a platform having an unobstructed surface and forming aclosure for the surface opening of the pit flush with the surface of theflying field, said platform being movable inwardly of the pit, means tolower said platform to position the wings Of a plane supported on saidplatform into service accessible proximity to the field surface at thesides of the pit, and chambers opening from the side walls of the pitaffording servicing, loading and unloading access to the underwingstructure of the plane within the pit as it rests on the so loweredplatform.

WALTER C. LEITCH. JOSEPH A. LOGAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,766,251 Greenleaf June 24, 19301,753,574 Loth Apr. 8, 1930 ,814,985 Florido July 14, 1931 2,235,246Anthony Mar. 18, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 519,975Germany Mar. 6, 1931

